Reflections

How An Advisor Acts As A Quarterback To Your Team

By Sean Condon, CFP®

If you are running a business, do you do everything yourself?  Maybe this was true in the early days, but anyone who has begun to achieve success understands that you need to surround yourself with smart people and delegate.

Your personal finances are crowded with investments, business records, estate plans, budgets, legal matters, and taxes, just to name a few.  Think of your situation in terms of a football team.  If there’s no one calling the plays and managing the execution, every one of these things is going to be running to different parts of the field without a clear purpose.  That lack of coordination could cost you, not only financially, but also mentally by increasing stress.

Key members on a personal financial team include an accountant, attorney, private banker, and insurance specialist.  Typically, these advisors work individually, placing an added burden on you to organize and delegate.  That is why we recommend finding someone who can act as the quarterback to manage your team.  This is the role of your Wealth Advisor, ideally a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, who is also the individual that knows you and your goals best.

An advisor for your advisors

Often people try to be team owner and the quarterback.  This can lead to significant gaps in seeing the game and the future of your team clearly.  You likely hired your roster of professional advisors because you don’t have the time or expertise to handle every detail or meet with everyone.  Being your own quarterback just adds to the burden and doesn’t accomplish what you had hope for—a streamlined process with the peace of mind that everything is going according to plan.

Just as a football quarterback puts the right players in the right positions, making sure they are all specialists in their roles, your financial quarterback coordinates the players on your financial team to ensure they are all working toward the same end zone: growing and protecting your assets.

For example, consider your attorney and CPA, maybe an insurance broker too.  While they may have years of schooling and are highly qualified, are they working together toward a common goal?  Then you add in giving to charities, supporting family members, as well as leaving a legacy for them.  Who is making sure everything and everyone is moving in the right direction? If there isn’t a financial professional in your life taking the role as quarterback and executing on the field for you, the legacy of your team may not be what you had hoped for.

Who’s Your Quarterback?

So who should you get to coordinate your financial team and the different wealth management tasks on your plate?  The ideal person is someone who understands your financial life and communicates well with you, your spouse, and other family members.  They should be a financial professional who understands investing, estate planning, and tax implications of various strategies.  In summary, someone who can sort through the complicated financial issues ahead of you and execute a custom strategy, helping you get from basic affluence to independent wealth and well being.

That’s what the wealth advisors at Windgate Wealth Management can do for you.  Our comprehensive financial planning and wealth management services can provide direction and take care of all the details, getting everything working together to accomplish your goals and protect your wealth.

If you want to see the difference a financial quarterback can make, you can reach us by calling (844) 377-4963 or emailing windgate@windgatewealth.com.  You can also book an appointment online here.

Perritt Capital Management, Inc. is the Registered Investment Advisor for Windgate Wealth Management accounts and does not provide tax advice. Consult your professional tax advisor for questions concerning your personal tax or financial situation.

Data here is obtained from what are considered reliable sources.  We consider the data used to be relevant and reliable.

First published December 2020.

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